Unexpected Treasures on an Ordinary Friday

 Fireman was driving in Wisconsin with me yesterday.

We live 30 minutes from the southern border of Dairyland and we often head north to the country. 

 This is January winter in the midwest at its finest. 

Lake Michigan's blue is entirely different from the sky's blue.

The farms and the fields are as pretty to me in winter as they are in summer.  Maybe even prettier as the white snow offsets the fences and barns and silos.  All this from the warmth of a car, of course.

What time was spend outdoors consisted of just hurrying from parking space to store in a matter of minutes. 

That was enough of the outdoors on a day when the wind finds your bones within a breath or two and you instinctually shudder to rewarm. 

 Three treasures were found amid the wind and the snow yesterday.

We had some time to kill as our truck was being worked on, 

and Siri found a yarn shop for me.

Fiddlehead yarns in Kenosha was open.  It was bright inside and held tiny rooms with yarn tucked into neat cubbies.

I found an Elizabeth Zimmerman Butterfly pattern and bought it. 

You all know how frugal I am. 

I spent 10 dollars on that pattern. 

Is this the norm for her magical instructions?

I'll be watching to see if it is written well. 

Do we get what we pay for? 

At the counter these little circular needle protectors caught my eye.

 I had my Lang Tosca hat in the works in the car and this smart little tool kept the stitches from escaping each time I tucked the work into my bag.   

The last two treats of the day included stopping at a salon in Williams Bay and asking to have my hair cut.  

It is short short short….and I love it. 

Fireman was shocked that I'd just walk in to an unknown and say, Cut it please.  That's the difference between Kathy B at 21 and Kathy B at 53.  The cost of the cut was 35 dollars. 

At home the cut would have been 80 dollars.  

It is so short I better finish my hat today, I most definitely need one. 

Finally while I had my hair cut off to my liking, Fireman texted a fireman pal who lives is Williams Bay and they met at 

Harpoon Willy's to catch up. 

Harpoon Willy' is the town bar.  It sits by the frozen bay 

and is loved by the locals.   They saw someone drive a truck across the bay, but no one was ice fishing yesterday. 

Normally the lake is dotted with ice fishing shacks

but the cold is extreme. The bar seemed a better option when the winds were so extreme that they closed the schools early again. 

Keep warm!

Keep safe!

Keep Knitting !